---

Queen’s Speech

My Lords, as often, I am going to talk about what was not in the gracious Speech but which I wish had been. I am going to talk about rubbish—at least about what too many people think is rubbish and throw away. I have just read a book called Waste by Tristram Stuart. I recommend it to your Lordships; it costs less than £10. What I have learnt from it is that the amount of perfectly good food that is wasted in this country, in the United States and in other large food-producing countries, such as Pakistan, is more than enough to feed all the hungry people in all the countries in the world and leave enough over for any likely increase in the population. No need to cut down more rainforest for agricultural land. No need to panic about starvation staring our grandchildren in the face. There is plenty, if only we did not waste it. There is in this country a government-funded, not-for-profit company called the Waste and Resources Action Programme, known as WRAP—and that is what I shall call it. It estimates that the total mass of food waste from farms, factories and shops down to people’s homes is approximately 18 to 20 million tonnes. WRAP and other organisations commissioned by the British Government have undertaken further research to determine more exactly the amount of waste through the supply chain and hope to publish the results this year, but an accurate estimate of the total amount of waste would cost more than the Government, strapped for cash, are prepared to pay. It is not unfair to say that the supermarkets are the biggest culprits. Every day, they throw away all food that has reached its "use by" and "best before" dates. Some supermarkets give some of the waste to charities. Some do not. Some send it to be anaerobically digested to make energy. Some do not. Some is rescued and taken home by poor people who are clued up enough to go to help themselves to it. Some just goes to landfill. How does that come about? Mainly by overstocking, which is bad management arising from the idea that it is more profitable to throw away unsold food than to be sold out of a product that a customer wants. Could they not promote the idea that, if you want to be sure of getting what you want, you should shop early or order in advance? I think that they could, because they are very powerful. Supermarkets also use their power to promote a great deal of waste at producer level in three ways. First, there is waste caused by supermarkets that order a certain number of their own brand-named product and then say that they require only a smaller number. The producer cannot sell the remainder and, if it is perishable, it goes to waste. Then there is their insistence that, for example, every pie should be exactly the same shape and weigh exactly the same amount, so that every pie that does not conform to the rules gets thrown out. Thirdly, there is their insistence that all fruit and vegetables should conform to completely artificial and entirely cosmetic standards of size and shape. Apples must be smooth, not knobbly. Carrots must be dead straight. Any that are not are either ploughed back into the ground or used for animal feed. The consumer pays for that, instead of being offered cheaper carrots, some of which may be a bit bent or even forked, or cheaper apples, some of which may be a bit knobbly. We all know that the Government are short of money—all Governments are always short of money, but they are particularly short of money at the moment and would like to raise taxes. What about a tax on waste food put out by supermarkets and manufacturers? The money could go to finance WRAP. I should prefer an incentive, such as a tax break, for reducing waste, but I suppose that this is not the best time. Another wicked source of waste is the practice of discarding overquota and undersized fish. Those who run the common fisheries policy have a lot to answer for. They are still procrastinating about getting rid of the quota system and banning discarding. I hate waste. I grew up during the Second World War, when food was rationed and some things were in very short supply or unobtainable. We wasted nothing. Most leftovers were put to use in some other dish. Anything that we could not use or eat went into the hens or the pig bucket and anything that they would not eat went on to the compost heap. Nowadays, many people not only throw out leftovers such as half-eaten chickens and joints of meat but do a huge shop once a week without a shopping list, buying whatever they fancy or is a BOGOF—"Buy one, get one free". When the next shopping day comes round, out goes everything that they have not used or that has reached its "best before" date and the whole merry-go-round starts again. The reason for this is that these people have never been taught to shop, plan meals, cook or use leftovers. Once upon a time, girls learnt that from their mothers, but now their mothers are the culprits. The only answer that I can see is that cookery and what we used to call domestic economy—I think that it is now called home economics—should be a compulsory subject in all schools from a very young age. One period a week would be sufficient. Surely a Government who love dictating what is taught in school could see to that. It would take time to work, but I think that it would work. Therefore, there are two things that the Government can do: tax waste to fund WRAP and teach children domestic economy.